Chronicles of Flames

One 🔥

Ella opened her eyes with a start and coughed. A soft, tender hand patted her back.

"Take it easy dear," Deborah's soothing voice said.

Ella used her hands to prop herself up from the bed, coughing still.

This place was sickening, with the dripping sound from some machines by her side, the strong smell of disinfectant, and the blinding white and cream paint used to colour the walls.

"Where am I?" she asked after calming down well enough to stare into Deborah's peaceful brown eyes with her lilac-coloured ones.

The last she recalled, before she went unconscious, was that she had been sinking, drowning deep to her death.
A deeper dive into her brain's CPU made her remember how it had all happened. It came so fast, with the speed of lightning. The memories. Harsh.

Her duty as the feeding warden at the aquarium where she worked part time-Mkesea Tanks, a quaint tourist attraction situated here in the focal region of Ivory Town, Coasta Hera.

The sudden pressing she had felt to go under the water was something she couldn't fathom. It was the wrong time for her water spirit guide-Mergirlina-to summon her.
Normally, it came during her sleep. She would sleep walk into the bathroom, turn on the water into the plugged bathtub and then slip in a trance-like state underneath the water.

This time around, she tried with all the will power she could muster to resist. But she couldn't. She had an inkling this would be bad. Hard as she tried, she just couldn't stop herself from slipping into the giant tank that housed Tilapia fishes. It was like she was a puppet being controlled by strings in the hands of a wicked puppeteer.

Looking back in retrospect, she was extra grateful to the Redeemer that she hadn't been pulled into water when she was feeding the Sharks or Piranhas or any other bloodthirsty specie of fish for that matter.

Her splattering had caused every other warden, as well as visitor, to be aware of what was happening to her. An alarm was raised.
Deborah, who just happened to be a college nursing student, had come sight-seeing on that fateful Thursday morning.
After some bold workers had brought out Ella's limp form out of the water, Deborah was the one who administered CPR on her to keep her alive. The ambulance came to carry her few moments later.

Even though Ella was breathing, albeit erratically, she remained unconscious. That was when the unfolding in the spiritual realm began.

The darkness was tangible and choking. She found herself in the usual convergence place. The three thrones curving radially around an empty massive one to form a crescent shape.

Right in front of this semicircular sitting array was a bloodied altar. She had never seen it in this grotesque state before.

The spirits were chanting and each syllable of their chant made chills flow up and down her backbone.
What frightened her more was that she had no control on her movement and she couldn't voice out her protest.

"Why didn't I suspect? Now I am doomed. This is my end. Is there anybody out there who can rescue me? Please help me!" her mind screamed.

She knew what this meant. She had seen this kind of ritual being carried out on other preys aforetime. It usually meant either the coronation of a more powerful water spirit, or the promotion of a demon who had done well. They usually chose this best kinds, the ones who had much glory to be the sacrifice.

But why? Why was she evidently the new sacrifice? Had she done anything wrong? Now she believed that betrayal was a norm in this kingdom. It was a dog-eat-dog war.